2014 Utah Outreach Campaign Day Ten

We rejoice in another day to come to Provo, Utah and share the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our God is an amazing God. Throughout history, he has used circumstances to share and to preserve the gospel message. We were presented with the thought that God can even use the laws of Mormonism. Daily we see the stresses associated with trying to be a faithful Mormon. We have seen the laws of Mormonism crush LDS souls where they simply give up or turn to medication. God can use the burdens of the law to open up hearts to hear our gospel message, especially when they have had enough of Mormonism. We continue to ask the Lord and give him thanks for sending us to the houses of Mormonism who are ripe for our message.

Several missionaries came across Mormons who stated that even though they are not perfect, they have all eternity to get it right. This opens the door to present God's urgent message that we have only this life to be perfect and the severe eternal consequences associated with not meeting that standard.

We came across a few Mormons who stated that Martin Luther is responsible for the LDS Church. He set the stage for the Restoration of the gospel through the Reformation. As Martin Luther reformed the Church, Joseph Smith restored the true Church. Mormons believe that the restoration has taken the gospel an even further step by introducing a human's divine potential to become like god. According to Mormonism, this is part of Heavenly Father's plan of salvation. One of the joys of coming to Provo is to share with them true Christianity from the mouths of Christians, and not what Mormons think Christians believe.

One of the Truth in Love missionaries used to play football for the University of Minnesota. While canvassing student housing, he came across a young man who was switching from track and field to play BYU football. They were able to establish an immediate connection. He started out by mocking the advertising and literature -- even calling out his roommates to laugh at the material. He told our missionary that he will give him ten minutes to share after he took a shower. The missionary patiently waited for the young man, then took ten minutes to share the gospel message. Ten minutes became another ten minutes. The deadline kept getting extended until they had a thirty-five minute visit about what the Bible teaches about forgiveness and redemption.

Mike

Towards the end of the discussion, the Truth in Love missionary referred to Galatians 2:15-21. He brought up the verses on his iphone and handed it to the young man. He stared at the verses for three minutes without saying a thing. He was so quiet that our missionary wondered if he had fallen asleep. Then, the young man started to mutter aloud the verses.

"We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn't that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I know life in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:15-21)

The young LDS man was stunned. He stated, "This is amazing! I've never read this before."

We marvel at God's hand at work. Yet there is more to the story.

Our Truth in Love missionary had forgotten his iphone in the car. After finding the driver, he was able to retrieve his phone just in case he needed to contact people. At the next door, he met this young man! Without his iphone, the missionary would not have been able to share the Bible verses.

A husband-wife Truth in Love Ministry team was presented with a golden opportunity. After a ten-minute conversation, the team asked, "If you were going to die tonight, where would you stand with God?" The woman's eyes immediately opened wide. She replied, "That is really stressful!" She never really considered that question before.

Since she didn't own a Bible, she became very interested in what the Bible had to say. The missionaries set up an appointment where they promised to not only bring a Bible, but also highlight key verses. The woman answered, "Well, I'm looking forward to it."

Truth in Love missionaries came across a young LDS woman who was busy retrieving kids from her car. When the young mother saw the missionaries, she replied that she already received a visit from our group. Seeing that she was busy, they moved on to the next house.

Curious, the missionary came back several minutes later to her house. He was concerned that they were going to houses that had been already visited by missionaries last week. "Did you see any last week?" he asked. "No," she replied. "Well," the missionary answered, "the last time we were in Provo was two years ago." "That sounds about right," she said. "In fact, I believe they were about a website called beyeperfect."